Sunday, January 16, 2011

In Memorium: Susannah York

Susannah York died from advanced bone marrow cancer yesterday, a mere six days after her 72nd birthday. Genre fans know Ms. York for her role as Lara, the doomed Kryptonian mother of Superman in Superman The Movie (1978; pictured above) and two sequels, Superman II (1980) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).

Of course, she had extensive stage and screen credits including Tom Jones (1963), A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Killing of Sister George (1968) and Battle of Britain (1969). She famously snubbed the Academy Awards, regarding her 1969 nomination for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, declaring that it offended her to be nominated without being asked.

She also earns some “cool” props for having been expelled from school at age thirteen, after owning up to a naked midnight swim in the school pool.

The Catacombs extends its condolences to her family, friends and fans.

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How it all began ....

In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, intent to make better use of their printing equipment (which frequently sat idle between jobs), came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9-inch by 12-inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled "Funnies On Parade" was given away for free. It proved so popular that the following year Eastern published "Famous Funnies" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, jumped on the bandwagon and the comic book industry was born!